Conveyer.



D. C. PLACE.

CONVEYER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 22,19I5.

1,21 1,224. Patented Jan. 2,1917.

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1 rrn a a n 3 DENNIS 0. PLACE, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

convnvnn.

Application filed .Tune 22, 1915. Serial No. 3 5,507.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, DENNIS C. PLAOE,'EL citizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough of Brooklyn of the city of New York, county of Kings, in the State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Conveyers, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a. specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

Thisinvention relates to an improvement in endless conveyers, and particularly to a type of conveyer wherein a series of buckets is carried upon an endless chain or chains.

The object of the invention is to provide a conveyer of the type indicated which will be durable and which will withstand hard usage under all conditions, and furthermore to combine in one apparatus some of the advantages of the endless belt conveyer and the advantages of the improved bucket conveyer herein described. 1

One embodiment of the present invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, and therein:

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of the conveyer in operative position; Fig. 2 is a front elevation; and Fig. 8, a detail, is

an enlarged longitudinal section of one end of the conveyer.

It is the usual and customary practice in constructing conveyers of this general type to attach separate and disconnected buckets to an endless chain or chains in such. a manner that they lie entirely outside'the path of the chain. The buckets are usually bolted, or riveted, or otherwise suitably attached to the endless element of the conveyer, be it chain or belt, and the buckets open in the di rection of travel of the chain, thus permitting their filling at or slightly beyond the lowermost turning point and providing for dumping at or'just beyond the upper turning point. When the buckets inv conveyers so constructed, meet an obstruction, as may often happen even when passing through loose material, the obvious tendency is to tear the bucket from its fastenings, which tendency is greatly exaggerated by the fact that the retarding force and the pulling power are applied at opposite sides of the bucket. It is contemplated herein to overcome the difficulties suggested by attaching the outer edge of the bucket directly to the chain, thus applying the power. at the point of greatest resistance and materially reducing the strain upon the bucket and its fastenings. Furthermore, the projecting bucket is apt to be damaged by contact with stones, etc., outside the path of the chains and such aconveyer cannot be well regulated to avoid such obstructions. With the construction herein shown, buckets lie wholly within the path of the chains and are much less liable to be damaged by such accidental contact. Tnthe usual type of conveyer the buckets are spaced from each other, thus making it pos sible for much of the conveyed material to fall between the buckets, clog the conveyer or be lost entirely. By connecting the buckets, the front wall of one and the. rear wall of another, the conveyer will be made continuous throughout and will then possess the advantages of the belt conveyer.

As a necessary result of the construction shown, the conveyer will be more compactand the sprockets over which the bucketcarrying chains pass will measure the eX- treme thickness of the-device, thus providing a very small turning radius. This is due to the fact that the buckets are entirely within the path of the chains. The adaptability of the conveyerto a Wide variety of uses will prove most valuable. I

Other advantages of the present construction will hereinafter appear.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to Figs. 1 and 2 thereof, it will be seen that the illustrative embodiment of the invention herein shown comprises a frame in which shafts are journaled at opposite ends to carry sprocket wheels over which the bucket carrying chains pass, the whole being supported in operative position by suitable means attached to theshafts outside the sprockets; these means not being shown in the accompanying drawings. The frame comprises two longitudinal reach members 1 herein shown as of light I-beam construction, and cross braces 2 to give rigidity to the frame. Suitable bearings 3 are provided at the ends of the reach members 1 and in these bearings are journaled shafts 4:

5. Fast t0 the shafts 4 are four sprocket wheels 6 which carry two endless chains 7 Buckets are mounted between these chains, and power, being applied to one of the shafts 4, preferably the upper one, is transmitted through the sprockets to the chains and to the buckets.

The buckets form the principal part of my invention by reason of the fact that their peculiar and novel construction admits of their relation and organization with the remainder of the machine in such a way that many of the principal objects of my invention are thereby attained. The buckets consist oftwo jointed pieces of sheet metal, a front wall 8 and a rear wall 9. Sides 10 are formed preferably of cast metal or of sheet metal of a weight and thickness sufficient to gii' e it substantial rigidity. The sides 10 are attached to the front walls 8 of the bucket by suitable means but are not fast to the rear Walls 9merely bearing against the edges thereof. The front and rear walls of the buckets are fastened together by means of a hinged joint 11 at the bottom of the bucket. The buckets, so constructed, are attached to and carried by the chain by means of hinged joints 12. These connections are found by inserting a rod 18 in the bolt holes of the chain, continuing it across the conveyer from one chain to the other and forming about this rod, the metal of the rear wall of one bucket and the front wall'of the other to provide hinged joints therewith.

In operation, the buckets will travel in endless succession in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1, receiving their load at the lower end and discharging it upon passing over the upper sprocket. The buckets in their upward travel will bear against the frame members and will be su ported thereby and prevented from saggmg and striking the buckets which are traveling in the reverse direction. The reason for the adoption of the peculiar shape of the buckets will now be apparent. As the chains pass over the sprockets, the buckets change their angular relation to each other and, as shown in Fig. 3, the rear wall of one bucket will be brought nearly into contact with a portion of the front wall of the bucket immediately following it. Furthermore, as the buckets pass around the upper or lower shafts, the distance between the successive rods 13 will vary, being less when the chain is on the sprocket than when extended between the sprockets. This necessitates the hinged joint 11 and the unattached relation of the side wall 10 to the rear'wall 9 of each bucket. The bucket will consequently tend to close slightly as it is carried over the sprockets, opening to its normal size when leaving the sprocket. This relative movement of the walls of the bucket will prove to be advantageous when the conveyer is being used in light, sticky material, in that such movement will tend to dislodge the contents of each bucket as it passes the upper sprocket. It should, of course, be understood that the shape of the buckets may be changed to any form which will accomplish the desired objects.

The present invention has been developed in connection with a street sweeping machine and the present type of conveyer will therefore be found to possess special advantages when used in connection therewith. lVhen so used the conveyer is fitted with a shoe at its lower end to drag upon the roadway, and a circular revolving brush fills each bucket with sweepings as it is presented to the brush upon making the lower turn. Suitable means are arranged to receive the dirt swept up from the street as it falls from the buckets while they are making the upper turn.

I claim as my invention:

1. An articulated bucket for an endless chain conveyer comprising a front wall pivoted by a rod extending transversely between and joined to two opposite links of the bucket-carrying means, and a rear wall pivoted by a rod extending transversely between and joined to two opposite links of the bucket carrying means, said last two links being separated from said first two links respectively by one or more intervening links of the bucket-carrying means, said front and rear walls being hinged at or near the lowermost point of the bucket,.side walls integral with said front wall and unattached to said rear wall, whereby the bucket may be partially closed or opened as the distance between the respective pivots of the front and rear walls may be varied.

2. In a conveyer, the combination with a pair of endless chains and wheels over which the chains pass, of an articulated bucket having a. front wall pivoted by a rod extending transversely between and joined to two opposite links of the bucketcarrying means and a rear wall pivoted by a rod extending transversely between and joined to two opposite links of the bucket carrying means, said last two links being separated from said first two links respectively by one or more intervening links of the bucket carrying means, said front and rear wall being hinged at or near the lowermost point of the bucket, and having side walls integral with said front wall and attached to said rear wall, whereby the angular relation of the front and rear walls of the buckets may be changed when'the bucket is passing around the wheels at the ends of the conveyer.

3. In a conveyer the combination of a frame, shafts journaled in opposite ends of said frame, a pair of sprocket wheels upon each of said shafts, a pair of endless chains passing over said sprocket wheels, and articulated buckets carried by said chains, the said buckets comprising two hinged parts, each part pivotally attached at the top thereof to said chains by means of rods extending transversely between and joined to said chains, said rods being separated from one another by one or more links of said chain whereby the said buckets are adapted to lie wholly within the operative path of said chains and to bend as necessary in passing over said sprockets.

4. In an endless chain conveyer, a bucket, comprising in combination, a front wall pivotally attached to a rod extending transversely between parallel chains; a rear wall hinged to said front wall and pivotally attached to another rod extending transversely between the chains; side walls for said bucket rigidly fixed to said front wall and unattached to said rear wall; said transversely extending rods being mounted uponsaid chains and separated one from another by a plurality of intervening links of said chain, whereby said rods and the walls of the bucket attached thereto, will be moved toward each other as said chains engage a sprocket adapted to carry the same, and away from each other as said chains disengage said sprocket, thereby contracting the space between the front and rear walls of said bucket prior to the discharge of material therefrom, and expanding the space between the front and rear walls of said bucket at substantially the time of the discharge of material therefrom.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, this 21st day of June, 1915.

DENNIS c. PLACE;

Copies of this patent may lie obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

